I didn’t feel like decorating…but because I DID get so many JOY things given to me…they had to be put up some where…my house got decorated with all your JOY! You should come see my JOY house! Thank you so much!!!!

I didn’t put up lights this year…. but some sweet friends DID put some up for us while we were away one day. We came home to beautiful Christmas lights on our house. Thank you!!

I didn’t do my usual holiday baking this year… but we DID get more than the usual deliveries of Christmas goodies that we were able to share with family who were here.

I didn’t do my usual stocking stuffing this year.  I was ready to, but just forgot because….  I DID get to have 3 week old baby Faye all to myself for 4 hours Christmas Eve night so her momma could get come good uninterrupted sleep. Best distraction ever!!!  Merry Christmas Rubi!

We didn’t have Ashton with us this year, but we DID get to see Jacob’s beautiful face on SKYPE and talk with him for an hour. Heaven!!

I didn’t get to sing in the usual choirs I sing in, but I DID get to feel the absolute blessing of Christ’s birth, life and death as the music I heard filled my being and nourished my heart and soul.

We didn’t do the usual Nativity this year at Christmas Eve with the kids… but we DID sit together as a family and remember Ashton. I felt him with us as we did. I thought there would be more tears, but that calming comfort was there that I have felt before when I feel him near.

No… we didn’t have Ashton with us this year. But because we didn’t, we DID get to hear from so many more people who contacted us many different ways… Joy deliveries, notes in the mail, email, texts and Facebook messages… encouraging us and letting us know we are loved and thought of.

There’s a new sign up over my desk. It says:

“The Lord gave and The Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of The Lord.”
Job 1:21

Yes… it’s been a different kind of Christmas, but a most memorable one. I’ll remember it as my Christmas of JOY! My Christmas where I felt more love from God and my fellow man than ever before. How can I not bless His name?

Written by Faye